Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle to Hold a Committee Meeting Tonight; the No-Op Co-Op Maintains the Illusion of Activity

Dec. 1, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Another month has passed without an opening date for the Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle.

The vacant store at 250 E. Broad St. has missed at least two opening dates this year, more in the past four years, but it still has an active presence on social media and it holds lots of meetings.

If somebody only looked at Facebook, they might think this is a bustling grocery store.

Instead, it’s a publicly funded boondoggle that was supposed to open in 2022, 2023, 2024, and now 2025, and as I type this out, there are 728 hours and 19 minutes left in the year.

The Boondoggle is not open, it’s running out of money, it has paid consultants a lot to do something that amounted to nothing, and right now it’s so broke that the Philadelphia-area Weaver’s Way Co-Op is helping pay for its search for a general manager.

The Boondoggle already had one general manager for about a year, without opening. I want to work there. How hard can it be to work at a store that isn’t open?

While Weaver’s Way actually operates at multiple locations, it shares one trait with the Bethlehem Co-Op Boondoggle: they both have a knack for going after public money.

The Boondoggle has taken in at least $3.1 million, and Weaver’s Way is also adept at working politicians for money. More on that later, and please note, you can actually buy food at Weaver’s Way.

Tonight, the Bethlehem Boondoggle will hold its M.O.V.E. meeting. That committee gathering will be online only — there is no Co-Op so they can’t meet there — and a link presumably will be available on the Boondoggle’s website.

Here’s what they’re going to do:

 — Let’s meet! There are a lot of things to discuss as we get ready to open our store! —

Such as what? “When in doubt, meet” as some people tend to do.

M.O.V.E. stands for membership, outreach, volunteers, education and events. As I said, for a “no-op co-op,” they present a good illusion of actually doing something, but it’s just that, an illusion.

I don’t know what they have to talk about after 14 years of non-existence, but this committee will find a way to consume time, just as the Boondoggle itself finds a way to consume money and ask for more. It’s been calling the people it calls “member-owners” for loans, but it really wants donations.

I’m still working on my quest, as a taxpayer, for the Boondoggle to be held accountable. Maybe they can’t play us for fools forever, though 14 years is pretty amazing. Government didn’t ask questions, so I will.

I’m still at it. Happy holidays!